U.S. warplanes attacked “operational and weapons storage facilities” of Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria border region Sunday.<\/p>\n
The air strikes were carried out in retaliation against drone attacks targeting U.S. forces, the Pentagon said in a statement.<\/p>\n
It did not provide any information on casualties, but the UK-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said five militia fighters in Syria were killed and many others wounded in the attack.<\/p>\n
About 2,500 US troops are based in Iraq as part of an international coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS).<\/p>\n
They were frequently targeted through drone attacks recently.<\/p>\n
“At President Biden’s direction, U.S. military forces earlier this evening conducted defensive precision airstrikes against facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria border region. The targets were selected because these facilities are utilized by Iran-backed militias that are engaged in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks against U.S. personnel and facilities in Iraq,” says a statement issued by Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby. <\/p>\n
The U.S. strikes targeted operational and weapons storage facilities at two locations in Syria and one location in Iraq, both of which lie close to the border between those terrorist-infected Middle East countries. Several Iran-backed militia groups, including Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH) and Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS), used these facilities.<\/p>\n
The Pentagon stated that the ongoing series of attacks by Iran-backed groups targeting U.S. interests in Iraq, the President directed further military action to disrupt and deter such attacks. <\/p>\n